To the delight of many high school athletes, parents and broadcasters across western Pennsylvania, the Management Science Associates (MSA) Sports Network announced publicly this past Monday that it will stay in operation after being purchased by Trib Total Media.

The network will now go by the name ‘TribLIVE High School Sports Network,’ after the purchase is complete this October.

“I’m incredibly appreciative of [MSA] and what we were able to do as a network to grow and establish ourselves,” said Don Rebel, operations manager for the MSA Sports Network. “But I’m equally excited for the future of this network now that we’re under the Trib Total Media umbrella.”

In early August, MSA Sports Network was informed by parent company MSA that it would no longer be its primary financial backer. Knowing such information going into the school year, the network began searching for either new ownership or a possible partnership.

However, in the short month after not knowing what exactly the fate of MSA Sports Network would be, a kick starter was launched for the network that raised nearly $22,000 to help with operation costs since their largest funder had left.

Rebel very much appreciated the support that he saw from those in the area.

“It was pretty humbling,” said Rebel. “Once word got out that the sports network and its future was in jeopardy, a lot of people sort of rallied. Whether it be individuals or companies, it seemed every other day somebody was contacting us to stake their interest in possibly purchasing or partnering to keep the network alive.”

The Trib was one of the first companies to contact the network during the early days of August when the network’s original story of needing a new funder initially broke, and they instantly stood out from all others.

“The fact that The Trib is an established entity in southwestern Pennsylvania, and a media company as well – there’s a lot of synergy involved that made it sort of a no brainer,” said Rebel.

A major positive for fans of the MSA Sports Network is that the initial plan for the transition is for much of the networks workings are to remain the same.

“The Trib Total Media folks made it known that they liked what we did,” said Rebel. “They were excited about what we did; they were excited about having us be a part of what they do. The one thing that I’ve heard in the time of negotiations was that the game plan is too not make any major changes.”

“The hope is that we continue to do what we do and are able to do a lot more of it more successfully with their support.”

The MSA Sports Network was launched in 1998 as the Nauticom Sports Network (NSN), before MSA acquired and rebranded the network in May 2001.